Conquistadors: The Spanish and Portuguese Expansion in the Age of Discovery

The Conquistadors (from the Spanish conquistadores and Portuguese conquistadores, meaning "conquerors") were Spanish and Portuguese colonists who explored, traded, and conquered vast territories across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. During the Age of Discovery, these individuals sailed beyond the Iberian Peninsula to establish trade routes and colonies, bringing much of the New World under the dominion of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns.

Their expeditions were often led by hidalgos (members of the lower nobility) from southern and western Spain. Following Christopher Columbus's arrival in the West Indies in 1492, Spain utilized bases in Santo Domingo, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to launch further incursions into the mainland.

Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn, 1847. Christopher Columbus and his Spanish crew making their first landfall in the Americas in 1492

Key Facts

Depiction of a conquistador, Alberto del Canto

Primary Nations: Spain and Portugal were the dominant powers of the early Age of Discovery.
Major Conquests: The fall of the Aztec Empire (led by Hernán Cortés) and the Inca Empire (led by Francisco Pizarro).
Global Reach: Expansion extended from the Americas to the Philippines, Japan, India, and various African coasts.
Biological Impact: European diseases, particularly smallpox, caused massive population declines among indigenous peoples.
Iberian Union: A period from 1580 to 1640 when the Spanish and Portuguese empires were joined under a single crown.

The Spanish Conquest of the Americas

The conquest of Colorado, by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau, depicting Coronado's 1540–1542 expedition

Mesoamerica and the Aztec Empire

Between 1519 and 1521, Hernán Cortés led the conquest of the Aztec Empire, which was ruled by Moctezuma II. This victory allowed Spain to expand its rule into northern Central America and parts of the modern-day southern and western United States.

Hernán Cortés led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and expanded the Spanish Empire in the Americas

South America and the Inca Empire

In South America, Francisco Pizarro crossed the Isthmus of Panama and sailed to northern Peru. From 1532 to 1572, Pizarro subdued the Inca Empire, using Peru as a strategic base to conquer much of Ecuador and Chile. Other regions, such as central Colombia, were conquered by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

Francisco Pizarro meets with the Inca emperor Atahualpa, 1532

North American Exploration

Spanish exploration also pushed deep into North America. Between 1527 and 1535, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca led an expedition of 600 men. After landing in Florida, the party traveled on foot through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and several Mexican states before reaching the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Route of Narváez expedition (until November 1528), and a reconstruction of Cabeza de Vaca's later wanderings

Portuguese Exploration and Global Trade

Ponce de León and his explorers in Florida searching for the Fountain of Youth

While Spain focused heavily on the Americas, Portugal expanded its influence across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India, and in 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal.

Afonso de Albuquerque further expanded the Portuguese Empire by conquering Goa in India, Hormuz in the Persian Strait, and Malacca. Portuguese sailors eventually reached Taiwan, Japan, and Timor, establishing a commercial monopoly in regions like Guangzhou and Macau.

Afonso de Albuquerque expanded the Portuguese Empire across the Indian Ocean

Expansion into Asia and Oceania

Dom Francisco de Almeida, Viceroy of Portuguese India.[6]

Spain also established a presence in the East. In 1564, Miguel López de Legazpi was commissioned to explore the Maluku Islands. After conflicts with native tribes, he established settlements in the Philippines in 1571, becoming the first governor-general of the Spanish East Indies.

Statue of Miguel López de Legazpi in Cebu City, Philippines

The Impact of Disease and Conflict

Hernando de Soto and Spanish conquistadors seeing the Mississippi River for the first time.

The arrival of Europeans brought devastating biological consequences. Indigenous populations had no immunity to Old World diseases. Smallpox, typhus, influenza, diphtheria, and measles caused catastrophic mortality rates. For example, a smallpox epidemic killed the Inca emperor Huayna Capac in 1529, destabilizing the empire before Pizarro's arrival.

Aztecs dying of smallpox (Florentine Codex, 1540–1585)

Summary of Major Conquistadors and Explorers

Conquistadors praying before a battle at Tenochtitlan

Key Figures of the Age of Discovery
Name	Nationality	Primary Region	Key Achievement
Hernán Cortés	Spanish	Mexico	Conquest of the Aztec Empire
Francisco Pizarro	Spanish	Peru	Conquest of the Inca Empire
Vasco da Gama	Portuguese	India	First European to reach India by sea
Pedro Álvares Cabral	Portuguese	Brazil	Claimed Brazil for Portugal
Miguel López de Legazpi	Spanish	Philippines	First Governor-General of Spanish East Indies
Cabeza de Vaca	Spanish	North America	Explored Florida, Texas, and the Southwest

Frequently Asked Questions

A page of the Durán Codex (1576) depicting Hernán Cortés and La Malinche in Tenochtitlan

Vasco Núñez de Balboa and spanish conquistadors claiming the Pacific Ocean for Spain in 1513.

A page (folio 67), depicting indigenous Mexican warriors in the Codex Mendoza

Francisco de Orellana and his men became the first Europeans to travel the entire length of the Amazon River in 1541–1542

Diego de Almagro led the first Spanish expedition south of Peru into Chile 1535–37. Painting by Pedro Subercaseaux.

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, conquistador of the New Kingdom of Granada

The conquistador Juan Ponce de León (Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain). He was the first European to arrive at the current US and led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named.

Statue of Cabeza de Vaca in Houston, Texas

A map showing the de Soto route through the Southeast (1539–1542)

Hagåtña (Agaña) is the capital of the United States territory of Guam, ancient city of the Spanish possessions in Oceania.

Areas of what are now Alaska and British Columbia explored by Spain

Bronze figure of a Portuguese soldier made by Benin culture in West Africa around 1600

Portuguese expansion in Africa and the Middle East (1415–1801)[43]

Two brass plates depicting a bearded Portuguese soldier before 1500 on top and Benin warriors at the bottom

1630 map of the Portuguese fort and the city of Malacca

Portuguese in the Persian Gulf (1507–1750).

Forte de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Ormuz (Fort of Our Lady of the Conception), the Portuguese castle on Hormuz Island (Iran)

Nagasaki in Japan was founded in 1570 by Portuguese explorers

Fort Jesus in Mombasa (Kenya), seen from the inside

Portuguese North America (in present-day Canada); Vaz Dourado, c. 1576.

Cabral's voyage to Brazil and India, 1500

The Portuguese victory at the Second Battle of Guararapes ended Dutch presence in Brazil.

António Raposo Tavares, a bandeirante, led in 1648–1652, the largest continental expedition made in the Americas until then, from São Paulo to the east, near the Andes (via Mato Grosso, the Paraguay River, the Grande River, the Mamoré River, and the Madeira River), and to the Amazon River and the Atlantic.

Álvaro de Bazán, Spanish admiral famous for never having lost a battle.

The combined Spanish and Portuguese empires during the Iberian Union (1580–1640)

Moctezuma Xocoyotzin under the control of the conquistadors

Francisco de Orellana monument in Guápulo, point of departure (from Quito) to the Amazon.

Map of the Island of California, circa 1650; restored.

Bronze equestrian statue of Francisco Pizarro in Trujillo, Spain

Alonso de Ovalle's 1646 engraving of the conquistadors García Hurtado de Mendoza, Pedro de Villagra and Rodrigo de Quiroga

Shrunken head of a mestizo man by the Jívaro indigenous people. In 1599, the Jívaro destroyed Spanish settlements in eastern Ecuador and killed all the men.

A group of 16th-century conquistadors that participated in the Spanish conquest of Peru (second expedition) along with their leader, Francisco Pizarro.

Spanish conquistador in the Pavilion of Navigation in Seville, Spain.

Basque Countrymen near the France–Spain border in 1898, with characteristic horse, donkey and dogs. These were the type of animals introduced to America.

Spanish Mastiff used in expeditions and guard

Ephemeris by Abraham Zacuto in Almanach Perpetuum, 1496

Portolan of Angelino Dulcert (1339) showing Lanzarote island

Pre-mercator navigation chart of the Coast of Africa (1571), by Fernão Vaz Dourado (Torre do Tombo, Lisbon)

Who were the conquistadors?

Conquistadors were Spanish and Portuguese explorers and soldiers who led military expeditions to conquer territories in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania during the 15th and 16th centuries.

What was the Iberian Union?

The Iberian Union was a period between 1580 and 1640 when the crowns of Spain and Portugal were joined under a single monarch, effectively combining their global empires.

How did diseases affect the indigenous populations?

European diseases such as smallpox, measles, and influenza decimated indigenous populations who lacked natural immunity, often killing a large portion of the population and weakening empires before military conquest.

Which empires were the primary targets of the Spanish conquistadors?

The two most prominent targets were the Aztec Empire in Mesoamerica (conquered by Hernán Cortés) and the Inca Empire in South America (conquered by Francisco Pizarro).

What role did Portugal play in the Age of Discovery?

Portugal focused heavily on maritime trade routes around Africa to India and Asia, while also establishing a significant colony in Brazil.